Flora MacDonald, International Honourary Member

Longtime Canadian politician and Order of Canada recipient
Flora MacDonald has died at the age of 89.

Born in North Sydney, N.S., MacDonald served as Member of Parliament for
Kingston and the Islands from 1972 to 1988. In 1979, she became the first
female secretary of state for foreign affairs in Canadian history.

MacDonald began her career working at Progressive Conservative headquarters
from 1956 to 1965, serving as executive secretary for half a decade. After
being elected as a Member of Parliament in 1972, she became the party's critic
for aboriginal affairs and northern development.

Four years after being first elected on the national scene, she threw her name
into the ring of contenders for the party's leadership only to see Joe Clark
win the nomination and eventually become prime minister.

Under Clark, MacDonald was named secretary of state for external affairs. She
was the first woman to hold this post in Canada and became one of the first few
female foreign leaders worldwide at the time.

A few years later in September 1984, she became the minister of employment and
immigration under then-prime minister Brian Mulroney. MacDonald later became
Mulroney's communications minister in 1986.

In November 1988, MacDonald lost her seat and cabinet position after spending
16 years in the House of Commons, prompting her exit from federal politics. She
decided to dedicate her time toward humanitarian efforts but also managed to
host a television program, author a book and serve as chair of an international
development research centre.

She also publicly opposed the Progressive Conservatives' decision to merge
their party with the Canadian Alliance in 2003 to challenge the governing
Liberals together. She argued that the views expressed by some Alliance members
on issues such as women's rights, immigration and bilingualism were not
compatible with those of the Tory party.

MacDonald was bestowed with many honours and awards, including the Order of
Canada as an officer in 1992 and as a companion in 1998. In October 2007, she
was one of five Nova Scotians named to the Order of Nova Scotia but could not
attend the ceremony because she was doing volunteer work in Tibet at the time.

Maclean's magazine honoured MacDonald with a lifetime achievement award in
November 2014.

On the East Coast, Canadians weighed in on the impact MacDonald had not only as
a politician but also as a humanitarian.

"I had a lot of respect for her, her hard work and her integrity,"
said Mark Eyking, the Liberal MP for Sydney-Victoria. He noted she earned the
respect of many she worked with, particularly those working on issues in
foreign affairs. Eyking said plenty of people he met spoke quite highly of her.

"She is going to be truly missed," Eyking added.

Cecil Clarke, the mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in Nova
Scotia, said despite her many firsts as a woman in Canadian politics, he will
remember her most as a philanthropist. He recalls "talking to her about
her humanitarian work in Afghanistan and around the world and she did that well
into her elderly years and never lost her passion for public service."